He forgot the combination so I built him a robot. Safe Cracking Robot - Part 1

I usually give myself a treat when I get something right. This guy is GENIUS, since he gives himself a treat for each wrong answer. I am nearly 60yrs old and cannot believe I have been doing this wrong the whole time.

As a mechanical engineer I'm cringing but also loving the process and ingenuity. Well done on all fronts. Hope this goes viral.

That was the best plea for Patreon patronage that I’ve seen. It worked. I immediately went over and signed up to support you. Might even clean out some contributions I’m making to creators I don’t really follow any more and swing those dollars your way.

Just a small hint. If you give some heat to the connector "case" when you are trying to remove it, it will come off really easily. For heat you could use a heat gun or like a hair dryer. You don't need too much of heat to melt the solder.....just that the plastic just starts to slightly soften.

I saw the LockPickingLawyer safe cracker video a while ago, and have been interested in the build process of a DIY alternative ever since! Great video, can't wait for part 2!

You are doing everything exactly how i wouldve tackled this project. i loved every single second of it and it was even educational. im excited for part 2!

Consider using a (heat) pressed threaded insert (PEM) on the 3D printed parts to reduce the chance of movement from stress!

Have you calculated how much time it will take for your auto-dialer to try a million different combinations? Odds are you won’t need to try all one million, but. Retired R&D, EE enjoying this. So many things can go wrong! I bought a expensive safe with a electronic keypad that took 4-digit number to open. Yep, I forgot my combo. I had bought it from a local company about 4 years earlier. After much begging and proving I bought it, the owner talked me through a secret way to sequence through numbers that opened it. Then, I just had to set the 4-digit number as you would normally. Makes one wonder if a tumbler type has any such secret way.

Love the storytelling in this!!

Love this so much! I actually just bought a house that as a built in gun safe and the old owner doesn’t know the combo (honestly the biggest selling point for me, the realtor thought I was nuts because I spent like 30 minutes looking at the safe and about 20 min on the rest of the property)😂. The door is locked open and I could easily open the back up but what would the fun be in that. Ever challenge is an opportunity to learn something new and its rare that one this exciting comes along! as a mechanical engineer turned electrical engineer I am trying to come up with the coolest way to put all my knowledge to the test and what you are doing is almost exactly what I had in mind. I’m probably the least experienced in programming side and I have always found that process to be the most maddening and rewarding when I figure something out. so now’s a good time dig in and work through the issues. Can’t wait to start pulling out my hair. Super exciting I will stay tuned to your project!

Such a cool project! Can't wait to see the second part!

One potential problem might be the jaws loosening or slipping off over time, a potential fix would be to have a set screw for the lead screw as well, so you tighten the jaws onto the dial and then tighten the set screw to give it a bit more resistance to loosening off. It might not be a problem that becomes immediately obvious, but if the safe cracker is running for hours it might become an issue then, and you don’t want it to fail hours into trying to crack the safe, you may have to start from the beginning again. Another potential solution would be to have some kind of elastic band to wrap around the jaws, just to give them some force holding them together, maybe you could even insert a spring between the jaws to keep the pressure up.

looking forward to part 2!

For the stall detection: I would not look at a threshold of the load value but calculate the derivative of the load value (e.g. how fast it changes, simplest form last value - current value) and go against a threshold of the derivative with the stall detection. In case of a stall you have a large negative derivative and that threshold should be relativly independend of a lot of motor and application conditions.

Awesome video can't wait to see the next part. If it takes a few seconds to test each combination, it will take you a few weeks/months at most to find it. Doable if you're willing to wait!

So much suspense. I want to see that safe opened!

It's funny I came across this video because in my math class we are leaning about calculating all possible combinations. Like I was literally watching my online class videos on permutations at the same time I clicked on this.

Great stuff. For removing connectors like that I use low-melt-point solder. Mix it into the existing joints and it'll remain liquid long enough to remove easily.

For removing connectors, you can get an heated solder sucker or a desolder station with a automatic vacuum pump. So you don't have to destroy the connector you're removing.

i work on cnc s all my life i can relate to your frustration and joy nice video !!